The Ship Model Forum

Surface Boss: Navy Considering Light Amphibious Warships for Junior Officer Command
Posted on July 22, 2021 by Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor

ARLINGTON, Va. � With the Navy planning on decommissioning its remaining Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships over the next two years, the opportunities for junior officers to command ships early in their careers are drying up. A new ship now being planned for the fleet may provide a solution to the problem.

Most Navy warships � destroyers, littoral combat ships (LCSs), amphibious transport dock ships and dock landing ships � are commanded by surface warfare officers with the rank of commander. The forthcoming Constellation-class frigate likely will be the same. Cruisers are commanded by captains who previously have commanded a smaller ship.

In an earlier era, such as World War II, many small warships, such as destroyer escorts, were skippered by lieutenant commanders. Antelope-class patrol gunboats during the Vietnam War were commanded by lieutenants. Today the Coast Guard has many ocean-going cutters, such as Sentinel-class fast response cutters, that give lieutenants early command experience. Command at sea for a junior officer has been shown to produce a more mature, experienced mariner accustomed to facing hard decisions that require sound judgement.

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US Navy�s light amphibious warship on track for 2022 contract award
By: Megan Eckstein ? 3 days ago
WASHINGTON � The U.S. Navy�s Light Amphibious Warship program is still on track for a fiscal 2022 start of construction, despite the program not appearing in the shipbuilding plan in the recent budget request, service officials told Defense News.
Navy and Marine Corps leaders previously told reporters the LAW program was quickly progressing. The program is already in industry studies with about 10 teams. The services have plans to downselect to three teams to produce a full design, and then to one team for a detailed design and construction contract by the end of FY22.
Still, the FY22 budget request asks for $13.2 million in research, development, test and evaluation funding, rather than for ship procurement.
The Navy wants to use that money �to complete preliminary design efforts and continue studies to finalize LAW manning and infrastructure requirements to support the development of the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the lead ship,� service spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Stephanie Turo told Defense News earlier this month. �Of note, FY21 funding supported award of the concept study/preliminary design contract and development of required acquisition, logistics, and test documentation.�
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US considering Australian-designed light amphibious warship
20 Jan 2021|Evan Karlik
Australia has a history of importing key military platforms from the United States�examples include the F-35A Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet, P-8A Poseidon and M1A1 Abrams tank. But there are now several near-term opportunities for Australia to provide military technologies for the US. Here are three intriguing possibilities.
First, as the US Navy and Marine Corps reimagine their future amphibious force, high-level discussions have focused on an innovative Australian-designed vessel to land troops and their equipment on unprepared beaches.
Gold Coast�based Sea Transport Solutions� stern landing vessel is one of several contenders vying for the US Navy�s light amphibious warship program. The stern landing design overcomes problems of conventional landing craft, which feature a large ramp in the bow that makes for poor handling in rough seas, reduces speed and obstructs visibility. Stern landing vessels are a mature capability and have been used extensively in Australia�s mining industry.

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Navy's Future Light Amphibious Ships Will Be Designed to Operate Off China's Coast
11 Dec 2020
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
New warships that will be capable of delivering 75 Marines straight from the sea onto a beach will operate in and around the first chain of islands off China's coast.
A new Navy shipbuilding plan released this week calls for building 10 light amphibious warships that can transport up to 75 Marines. The ships will operate independently of the amphibious ready groups with which Marine expeditionary units typically deploy.
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US Marines wants to move fast on a light amphibious warship. But what is it?
By: David B. Larter ? 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON � The U.S. Marine Corps is moving as fast as it can to field a new class of light amphibious warship, but it remains unclear what it will do, where it will be based or what capabilities it will bring to the fight.
The idea behind the ship is to take a commercial design or adapt a historic design to make a vessel capable of accommodating up to 40 sailors and at least 75 Marines to transport Marine kit over a range of about 3,500 nautical miles, according to a recent industry day presentation.
While the presentation noted that the ship should have few tailored Navy requirements, that also creates a problem: If the Navy is going to pay tens of millions to develop, build, crew and operate them, should it not provide some additional value to the fleet?
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Top Marine General Wants a New Class of 'Light' Amphibious Warship
13 Feb 2020
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
The sea services have laid out potential requirements for a "light" amphibious ship, the top Marine general said this week, raising the possibility that the Navy's upcoming force-structure assessment will include new types of vessels.
The Navy and Marine Corps will still rely on big-deck amphibious assault ships, Commandant Gen. David Berger told shipbuilders and members of Congress at a Tuesday event hosted by the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition. But they're also going to need something new over the next decade, he added.
"We need a light amphibious warship -- a lot of them -- that we don't have today," Berger said.
The commandant declined to answer questions about how many Marines, aircraft and weapons those ships could carry, citing the yet-to-be-finalized force-structure assessment that will lay out the number and types of platforms the Navy will need in the next decade.
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